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cj 7^ i:/[fM^M>-^^yo 




AN ACCOUNT 

OF THE 

Centennial Celebration 



OF THE 



#fw Qw Jsumwt i8I&, 



BI THE CITIZENS OF THE 




TOWN OF N(3RTHFIELD, 

RICHMOND COUNTY, NEW YORK, 

Including the 

OR ATio:t^ 

By Hon. GEO. WM. CURTIS, 

AND 

UISTOHICAL SKETCH 

By JOHN J. CCTJTE, Esq. 



CiiAiiLES VoGT, Steam Pkinter, 114 Fulton Street. 

1S76. 



AN ACCOUNT 



Centennial Celebration 



4vm &F MiiWn i8M, 



BY THE CITIZENS OF THE 




TOWN OF NORTHFIELD, 

RICHMOND COUNTY, NEW YORK, 

Ill.cl^lclino; the 

OR A.TIOISr 

By Hon. GEO. WM. CURTIS, 



A 



/A 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 

By JOHN .J . O L TJ T E , Esq. 



Charles Vogt, Steam Printer, 114 Fulton Street. 
1876. 



■V" \ 



i^'W'ASHt^-^ 




1776. #^'M 1876 



The undersigned, the Committee aj^pointed to prepare for pub- 
lication a report of the Centennial Celebration by the citizens of 
the Town of Northfield, Richmond County, Independence Day, 
1876, respectfuUy submit the following as their report : 

N. C. Miller, 
S. F. Rawson, 
C. M. Johnson. 

The Supervisors of the County of Richmond having, at a meet- 
ing of that body, passed a resolution requesting the citizens of the 
respective towns in the County to meet in their towns, and send 
ll^'e delegates to attend a convention at the Com-t-House, to take 
into consideration the proper celebration of the 4th day of July 
1876, the citizens of Northfield accordingly met at the Station 
House m Port Richmond, with Mr. J. H. Van Clief in the chair 
and C. M. Johnson as Secretary, and elected five delegates, and 
instructed them to state that the people of Northfield deemed a 
celebration by tlie whole County inexpedient, and that Northfield 
proposed to have a suitable celebration, and recommended Hke 
action by other towns. The delegates attended at the Court- 
House, and afterwards reported to an adjourned meeting of the 
citizens of Northfield, held at the School-House, and their report 
was accepted, and a Committee was then organized to prepare for 
a town celebration. The members of the Committee were divided 
mto Sub-Committees, as stated by Mr. Rawson in his openino- re- 
marks. ^ ° 

Beautifully printed programmes, with the airs to be sun- print- 
ed thereon, were furnished to the fifteen hundred persons assem- 



bied. The celebration was held imder the shade of the maple trees 
on Heberton Street, in front of the School-House in Poi-t Rich- 
mond. 

The singing was conducted by Mr. W. L. Sexton, and the in- 
strumental music was under the direction of Mr. Jas. "NYhitford. 
A large number of children of the vicinity Avere organized into a 
chorus for the occasion. 

During the exercises a salute of thii-teen guns was fired. 

The display of fireworks in the evening was on a float anchored 
in the water off Johnson's Dock. 

The residences in the vicinity were beautifully decorated in 
honor of the day. 

In opening the exercises of the day, Ex-District Attorney Raw- 
son, who presided, spoke as foUows : 

My Fellow Citizenb- : 

There is one subject upon which we are this day, without regard 
to race, faith, nation, previous or present political, or other condi- 
tion of servitude, fully agreed, and that subject, I hardly need to 
mention, is the due observance of the one hundredth anniversary 
of our birth as a nation. 

Having been selected by my associates of the Committee for the 
purpose of presiding over the exercises of the day, which I deem 
a great honor, it does not come within my province to make any 
extended address, though it is hard for any American citizen, 
with half an opportunity upon this day of all days, to refrain from 
a few^ star-spangled remarks. I will, lioweA^er, restrain my incli- 
nations, and simply call your attention to the proclamation of the 
President of the United States, issued some time since, pursuant 
to a resolution of Congress, which, in substance, recommends that 
the people do on this day assemble in their respective towns, and 
cause to be dehvered an historical sketch of such town fi'om its 
formation. 

The proclamation also contains suitable recommendations for 
the preservation of such sketch, to which we have attended. 
Another moi'e recent proclamation requests the people to assem- 
ble at some suitable j^lace in their respective localities, and retm'n 
thanks to Almighty God, " who hath made and preserved us a 
nation." 



5 

The committee of the citizens of the town of Northfield have 
endeavored to comj^lv with these recommendations by uniting 
with the accustomed celebration the rehgious exercises, and the 
historical sketch ; and the printed programme is now before you. 

It has been deemed best to publicly announce the organization, 
under whose auspices this celebration is given. 

The speaker then announced the committees, as follows : 

Committee of the Whole. — J. H. Van Clief, Chairman ; N. C. 
Miller, Secretary. 

Sub-Committees, composed of members of the Committee of 
the Whole, as follows : 

On Address — Historical Sketch — Reading Declaration, and Re- 
ligious Exercises. — S. F. Rawson and N. C. Miller. 

On Music. — Messrs. Jas. Davis, W. R. Eadie, John Decker. 

On Platform and Decorations. — J. H. Van Clief, N. Van Pelt, 
John Decker. 

On Fireworks. — N. Van Pelt, Jas. Davis, John Decker, and Wm. 
H. Van Name. 

On Finance.— J. B. PoUock, N. C. MiUer, J. H. Van Clief, Wm. 
H. Van Name, Henry Miller, Jr., C. C. Jones, J. P. Kohler, G. P. 
Wright, and John I. Housman. 

On Police.— J. H. Van Chef. 

On Preparing a Record of the Reception. — Messrs. N. C. Miller, 
S. F. Rawson, and C. M. Johnson. 

Reception Committe. — W. R. Eadie, N. C. Miller, Jas. Davis. 

Ushers.— D. C. Belknap, Geo. S. Middlebrook, Theo. A. Thomp- 
son, E. M. Ford, Theo. M. Eadie. 

The committee desire me to exjDress the deep obligations they 
are under to the gentlemen who kindly promised to come, 
and, better still, are here to aid us in decorating the grave of the 
past century, and at the same time wreathing the new-born cen- 
tury with bright garlands of rhetorical flowers. 

We are especially under obligations to Mr. Cirrtis, who, after 
declining several formal invitations to deliver orations in promi- 
nent places, which, if accepted, would have brought him much 



honor, finally yielded to oui' pressing solicitations, and consented 
to address liis friends and neighbors here to-day. 

It is eminently appropriate that all exercises of the kind 
which we are now about to enter npon, should be commenced 
with prayer, and with that view I now introduce to you bur 
revered friend and fellow-townsman, Kev. Dr. Brownlee. 

Dr. Brownlee then offered the following 

Prayer. 

Almighty God, our God and Father, our country's God, by 
whose favor we enjoy this peace and prosperity, we come before 
thee with grateful hearts to acknowledge thy goodness ; and 
with all our fellow citizens, every where with hke purpose assem- 
bled, to offer Thee the tribute of a Nation's praise. By Thy grace, 
the child of a hundred years ago has grown to be a man, able to 
take a place in the foremost rank of the nations. We have been 
preserved in the luidst of dangers from without and from within. 
Oui' material interests have been prospered till the world has 
been filled with wonder ; and all is from thee. In the advance- 
ment of our nation in science, in art, in the blessings of a benefi- 
cent government, in education, diffusing its elevating influences 
everywhere ; in religion unfettered, sanctifying our prosperity, 
and still tui'ning the great heart of the nation to Thee, we re- 
cognize Thy paternal care, and we desire to stir up our souls to 
magnify and bless Thee. 

Grant that we may never forsake Thy fear. Let no worldliness 
close our hearts to the higher blessings of Thy grace. May it, 
ever be our honor and our joy to walk before Thee as Thy dear 
children, esteeming Thy favor more than all besides. 

We pray Thee to look on us still with the same kindness which 
has followed us hitherto as a peojole. As we enter upon another 
century of our national life, may we resolve to seek our prosper- 
ity, above all, fi*om Thee. May we be more and more a Christian 
people, not alone in name. May we honor Thy holy day, and 
take Thy holy word as the basis of our institutions. May we en- 
joy more and more of that liberty which the truth confers, and 
cultivate more and more of that righteousness which exalteth a 
nation. May God the Lord dwell in the midst of us, our God 
for ever, even as He has been our father's God, and may He grant 



us the grace to do our work in His service, as a people, seeking 
ever to advance and diftuse the blessings of civilization, and es- 
pecially of the religion of Christ. May Thy Kingdom come in the 
midst of us, and Thy will be done as in Heaven, So may we 
hope for the glory of the nation to continue, and our land to be 
filled with a people prosperous, happy, and blessed. We ask it 
in our Redeemer's name. Amen. 

The audience then joined with the chorus in singing "Hail 
Columbia." 

After which, the Rev. Jas. S. Bush read the Declaration of 
Independence in an impressive manner, which was followed by 
singing Keller's "American Hymn." 

Mr. John J. Clijte, of AVest New Brighton, was then intro- 
duced by Mr. Rawson, as the gentleman who was to be known to 
futui'e generations as the historian of Staten Island, he being 
about to publish a history of Richmond County. 

Mr. Clute spoke as follows : 

On a beautiful morning early in September, two hundred and 
sixty-seven years ago, a stout, Dutch ship, called "The Half 
Moon," entered the harbor and anchored within the promontory 
of Sandy Hook. She bore Henry Hudson and his fellow voya- 
agers, probably the fii'st white men who had ever looked upon 
the beautiful panorama which surrounded them. Exploi'ations 
of the land and water were immediately commenced, and while 
Hudson himself coasted along Long and Coney Islands, a boat 
in charge of John Coleman, his mate, was sent to examine the 
shores of Staten Island. This boat entered the Kills, and pene- 
trated as far as Newark Bay, or the Sound, when the phenome- 
non of the tides running in opposite directions, within a short 
distance, mystified tliem, and induced them to retiu'n to the 
ship ; the mystery of the tides, however, demonstrated the fact 
that the land which they had examined was an island. In 
ix)unding the point at New Brighton on their retm-n, they en- 
countered two large canoes filled with savages, who, in their 
surprise and alarm, discharged a shower of arrows at the 
strangers, one of which struck Coleman in the neck and killed 
him. He was conveyed to the ship, and the following day was 



8 

interred on Sandy Hook, wliich, for a long time thereafter, was 
known as "Coleman's Point." 

The Indians inhabiting Staten Island at the time of its dis- 
coverj', were the Earitans, a branch of the great Leni-lenape, or 
Delaware nation, and the native name of the Island was Aque- 
honga-Monacknong ; it was also called Egquahous, or " the 
l^lace of bad woods." 

After exjDloring the bay and its surroundings, Hudson entered 
the great river which still bears his name, and ascended as far 
as the present site of Albany. He was eleven days in ascending, 
and as many in descending, and one month after entering the 
harbor, he sailed out of it again on his homeward voyage. 

The report he made of the beauties of the coiintiy, and es- 
pecially of the immense quantities of furs which might be ob- 
tained fi'om the natives, in barter for articles of trifling value, ex- 
cited the cupidit}' of numbers of the Dutch merchants, and many 
ships were sent over at various times, the owners of which real- 
ized immense fortunes. Pleased with the climate and the fertility 
of the soil, permanent settlers at length came over. 

In 1624, the first settlement was made on Staten Island by a 
number of Walloons, who, after remaining here nearly a year, 
removed to Long Island. 

The West India Company, or " The Nineteen," as it was some- 
times called, because it was composed of that number of mem- 
bers, had just been chartered in Holland, and in 1630 conveyed 
our island, and all the country on the main, extending from Ho- 
boken to near the Raritan, to Michael Pauw, one of their num- 
ber, whose name still clings to a part of his possessions at Com- 
munipaw, or the Commune of PauAV. 

Difficidties which we cannot now examine arose, which induced 
Pauw to sell out all his rights to the country to his fellow mem- 
bers, and the same year, or early on the following, David Peter- 
sen de Vries, having extinguished the Indian title, became pro- 
prietor, or patroon, of Staten Island, or the greater part of it, 
and began to make settlements upon it. It was the practice of 
the Company, before confirming a grant of land in the colony, to 
see that the patentee had first extinguished the Indian title, or 
had satisfied the Indians and obtained then- consent to part with 
their laud. In some instances this proved a difficult matter, and 



espeoiidly was this the case with Stateii Island. They were al- 
ways ready to sell it whenever a purchaser presented himself. 
In 1680 they sold it to Michael Pauw ; shortly after to David Pe- 
terson De Vries ; in 1641 to Cornelius Melyn ; in 1651 to Aiigust 
Heerraans ; in 1657 to the Baron Van Capelan, and in 1670 to 
Governor Lovelace. To this last sale they were obliged to ad- 
here, probably because there was more formality about it, the 
Governor insisti?ig" upon possession being given by " turf and 
twig," — that is, by a sod of the earth, and a branch of each sort of 
tree which grew upon the land. Each proprietor, Pauw probably 
excepted, introduced a number of settlers. The first settlements 
within the limits of Northfield were made on the northwest ex- 
tremity of the island, entirely by Dutchmen, which locality is to 
this day known as " Holland's Hook," an abbreviation for " Hol- 
lander's Hook." 

In 1655 there was a great massacre of the whites on the island, 
by the Indians, when all parts thereof was devastated, and the 
settlements on the Hook suffered severely. In April of the same 
year Johannes De Decker arrived in the country; he was a young 
man of excellent rejDutation, and had occupied some official sta- 
tion at Schiedam ; he brought with him a letter fi-om the Direc- 
tors of the "West India Comi">any, recommending him to the first 
vacant honorable position. He came as supercargo of the ship 
"Black Eagle." The Vice -Director at Fort Orange having be- 
come insane, De Decker was appointed to succeed him, a very re- 
sponsible position for a young man and a stranger, but he proved 
equal to the emergency. As he was the undoubted progenitor of 
the hosts of Deckers now so profusely scattered over oui* island, 
and especially over this town of Northfield, we will briefly follow 
his career until he disappears from the scene of action. 

After he had assiimed the direction of affairs at Fort Orange, 
now All)any, Governor Stuyvesant issued a proclamation against 
unauthorized preachers, from whom notliing could be expected 
but " discord, confusion and disorder in Church and State." De 
Decker issued an echo thereof, and adopted energetic measures to 
enforce it. When the knowledge of these proceedings reached 
Holland, Stuyvesant was severely rebuked, and forbidden to in- 
terfere with the free exercise of relia'ion thereafter. In 1656 De 



10 

Decker returned to Holland, where lie married, and in 1657 re- 
tiu'ned to this country again. 

He had become possessed of a plantation of one hundred and 
wenty acres of land within the limits of Northfield, but by reason- 
of some dispute with Stuyvesant, he was dispossessed, and, it is 
said, banished ; if so, his sentence must have been reversed, and 
the differences between him and the Governor reconciled, for 
when the colony was wrested from the Dutch by the EngHsh, he 
was appointed by Stuyvesant one of the commissioners for arrang- 
ing the terms of surrender. The English carried out, to the let- 
ter, the articles agreed upon, so far as they related to the enjoy- 
ment of property, and the free exercise of religion, but when they 
began to remodel the laws and change the names of places, De 
Decker's Dutch patriotism was aroused, and he protested so loudly 
and so fi-equently, that he again became offensive, and was once 
more banished from the colony by Governor Nicolls. During the 
administration of Lovelace, De Decker applied to the Dvike of 
York for a revocation of his sentence and the restoration of his 
property. The duke referred the matter to Lovelace to do in the 
premises what was just and proper, and the result was that he 
was reinstated in all his rights. Thenceforward we hear no more 
of him, except that he devoted himself to the cultivation of his 
farm and the raising of Deckers, in which last he succeeded ad- 
mirably, as we have evidence before us at this day. How many 
children he had is not known, but among his sons were Matthew, 
Pieter and Charles, names we find repeated among his descend- 
ants continually, thus affording proof of their legitimate descent 
from their "illustrious predecessor." 

Another of the old famiHes of Northfield is the Post. Adrian 
Post, who was the progenitor of those of that name at the pre- 
sent day, came to this country before 1G.50, as the captain of an 
emigTant ship. When he came to the island is not known, but 
he was here before De Decker, for at the time of tlie great 
Indian massacre in 1655, he had resided here with his wife, five 
children and two servants, for some time in the capacity o 
Superintendent of Baron Van Capelan's jilantation. He and his 
family escaped on that occasion, but soon thereafter returned 
and resumed his occupation. 
The Du Puys also came here at an early date. Nicolas du 



11 

Pvii, with his wife and three chndren, arrived here in 1GG2, in 
tlie ship called the " Pui'merland Church," and settled on Staten 
Island. He was, undoubtedly, the progenitor of the Depuys of 
the present day, as we find his name perpetuated amonpf his de- 
scendants. They settled in that part of Northfield which borders 
on Fresh Kill. 

The Simonsons were in the colony as early as 1631, but it was 
31 years later, namely 1662, before the name is found in connec- 
tion with Staten Island. Willem Simonson settled here at that 
date, and though there is no record of the names of all his 
children, we find among them the names of Barnt and Aert, or 
Arthur, which are perpetnatecl among the descendants to this 
da}-. 

The Corsens were in the colony several 3'ears before we find 
the name in connection with Staten Island. The first mentioned 
is Cornelius, to whom two patents were granted in 1680, one for 
60 acres and another for 320, besides 32 acres of salt meadow, 
in the words of the document, "where most convenient." He 
died before December 7th, 1693, as on that day his will was ad- 
mitted to probate. The grounds which we are now occui)ying is 
a part of the estate granted by that patent. His son, Cornelius. 
died in March, 1755, and lies interred in the neighboring church- 
yard,* where his gravestone, with its Dutch inscription, may 
still be seen. The original Cornelius is designated in the Albany 
Records as captain, and several of his descendants received mili- 
tary commissions of various grades — others were called to fill 
civil offices, as Members of Assembly, Sheriff, County Clerk, &c. 

The Merrills are also an ancient family. The first of the name 
was Richard, who, with his wife Sarah Wells, both natives of 
Warwickshire, England, settled on Staten Island in 1675. One 
of their sons, Richard, was Judge of the County in 1739, and 
member of the Colonial Assembly both before and after that 
date. 

The Mersereaus fled from their native France, first to England, 
and then to America. The family consisted of a widowed mother, 
two sons Joshua and Daniel, and two daughters Mary and Mar- 
tha ; another son, Paul, remained in England. They left France 

* The yard of the Reformed Church. The gravestone of his wife, June Van 
Biiskirk, also with a Dutch inscription, stands beside it. 



12 

immediately after the Revocation of the Edict of Nautes in 1<J85 ; 
the}- made but a brief stay in Enji^land, and left that country with 
an intention of settling in Philadelphia, then just founded, but 
were driven by a storm to seek safety in New York. While here, 
the natural beauties of our island attracted their attention, and 
they finally settled here, and in the graveyard of tlie old French 
church at Fresh Kill repose the remains of the widow, who 
brought her childi-en here as the only refuge from persecution. 
Joshua, a grandson of the widow's son Joshua, was the first mem- 
ber of assembly from this county after the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and filled the office for several years. No name occurs 
oftener in the ci\al list of our county than that of Mersereau. 

The first Van Pelt we meet with iu the records of Staten Island, 
is Hendrick ; he was here before 169G. 

The first Van Name was Evart, who lived here before 1709. 

The Pralls were here in 1694 ; the Lakes in 1696 ; the Hillyers 
in 1693 ; the Crocherons in 1698, and the Haughwouts about 
1700, &c. 

In 166-1, during a period of profound peace betAveen England 
and Holland, the former power sent four ships of war to America, 
and wrested the province from the Dutch, from which time until 
the achievement of our national independence, with the exception 
of a few months, she retained possession of it. Under the Dutch, 
there were no political divisions of the province, but the legal 
business was done at New Amsterdam. The English, soon after 
taking i:)OSsession, divided the southern part of the province into 
shires, and Long Island, Staten Island, .and what is now known 
as ^Yestchester, were comprised in one shire called Yorkshire ; 
these shii-es were again divided into ridings. 

In 1683, the province was divided into twelve counties, of which 
Richmond was one, and the four original towns were bounded 
and described in 1688. The boundaries of Northfield are about 
the same to day as they were then. 

The history of Northfield during the war of the Revolution is 
peculiarly interesting, but time will permit us only to glance at it. 
Staten Island has been charged with being a nursery of toryism 
during that eventful period, and General Washington, in one of 
his letters, speaks of " the well-known disaffection and treachery 
of the people of Staten Island." This is a serious charge, coming 



m 

from such a source, yet it might be materially palliated, but not 
uttei'ly denied, did time permit. It is, indeed, true, that there 
were many tories on the Island at the beginning- of the war, biit 
so heavily was the hand of oppression laid upon the pe(.)ple during 
its continuance that, at its close, there were very few. 

But at no time was the charge true as it related to the Town 
of Northfield. In this Town there was double the amount of pa- 
triotism than in all the rest of the County combined. This was 
owing to the fact that the majority of the people were of Dutch 
extraction, or French amalgamated with the Dutch. In this Town 
dAvelt the Corsens, the Mersereaus, the Van Names, the Van Pelts, 
the Crocherons, and a host of others, all well-known patriots. 

When the distribution of quarters for the British army took 
place, after they had taken possession of Staten Island, in July, 
1776, one hundred years ago to-day, that part of Northfield bor- 
dering upon Fresh Kill was assigned to the Queen's Rangers, a 
regiment of tories fi-om Long, Staten, and Manhattan Islands, 
and a few from New Jersey, commanded by the notorious Lieut. 
Col. John Graves Simcoe. A fortification was erected on the emi- 
nence just west of St. Andrew's Church, which was considered a 
very important mihtary position, because it commanded the ap- 
proach to the very centre of the Island through Fresh Kill. 

On the 8th of August, 1777, a party of Americans crossed from 
New Jersey to Staten Island, landing somewhere on the shore 
near the Mill Creek, and directed their course through Northfield 
towards Richmond. They were met not far from that village by 
a detachment of British soldiers, who, after a brief struggle, re- 
treated, and sought shelter within the stone walls of St. Andrew's 
Church. The Americans surrounded the church, firing through 
the windows until every' pane of glass in the building was broken. 
By this time the British had received reinforcements from the 
vicinity of Tompkinsville, and it then became the turn of the 
Americans to retreat, Avliich they did by the Fresh Kill road 
through "Westtield, and finally reached New Jersey by seizing- 
boats along- the Sovmd, having lost several men, but having also 
killed the British Colonel in command of the piu-suing party. 

The winter of 1779 was exceedingly severe ; the snow was 
deep, and the Kills and Sound were frozen over. A detachment 
of Americans, under Lord Stirling, taking advantage of the ice. 



14 

crossed the Sound at Elizabctliport for the purpose of surprishig 
"Skinner's New Corps," stationed on Staten Island. After land- 
ing at Hollands' Hook, thev marched along the shore, and the 
advance party, it is said, had reached the Mill road, but found 
the snow so deep, they could advance no further in that direction. 
They accordingly retraced their steps, and when they had reached 
the junction of the Shore and Church roads, a superior British 
force met them, and a smart skirmish ensued on the ground now 
occupied by the Gi'iffith, Van Pelt & Grreenwald stores, and the 
buildings in the \'icinity. The Americans were compelled to re- 
treat, which they did with small loss. 

During the whole war, the Pralls and other families residing 
near " The Lines," as the vicinity of the Sound Avas called, suf- 
fered greatly from the depredations of the Jerseymen on their 
property, who regarded all who continued to live on Staten Isl- 
and as tories, while the British looked upon them as half-fiedged 
whigs. 

AU intercourse between the people of Staten Island and New 
Jersey was prohibited by the British authorities, and during the 
seasons when the Kills and Sound Avere navigable, one or more 
gun-boats were kept plying to and fi-o, to enforce the jDrohibition. 
These gun-boats were maintained by the people of the county) 
who were taxed to pay their expenses. When the waters were 
frozen, patrols were stationed along the shores to prevent com- 
munication. 

Since the formation of the federal government, the town of 
Northfield has sent two liepresentatives to Congress in the persons 
of Heniy Crocheron and Jacob Crocheron. Of the County 
Judges, Daniel Lake and Richard Merrill, before, and Gozen 
Ryers and John J. Murray, after, the formation of the present 
government. There have been eight Presidential electors from 
our county, two of whom, Jacob Crocheron and John T. Har- 
rison, came fi-om Northfield. Of the Members of Assembly-, 
Northfield has furnished the following : Joshua Mersereau, grand- 
son of the widow, eight times ; Cornelius Corsen. once ; Gozen 
Ryers, four times ; Lewis Ryers, three times ; Richard Corsen, 
three times ; Jacob Mersereau, twice ; Paul Mersereau, once ; 
Lawrence Hillyer, twice ; Peter Mersereau, once ; Nicholas 
Crocheron, once ; Joshua Mersereau, Jun., once ; Thomas Child 



15 

once ; Nathaniel J. Wyetli, once ; John Decker, four times ; John 
B. Hilly er, once. In 1788, Gozen Eyers was sent to the State 
Constitutional Convention. Of the County Clerks, Thomas Car- 
hart, Adam Mott, Daniel Corsen, John Mersereau, Joshua Merse- 
reau, Jun , Israel C. Denyse, (twice) came from Northfield. Since 
1818, Avlieu the office of District Attorney was made a county of- 
fice, there have been thirteen incumbents, of whom five either 
resided or had their offices, in Northfield, viz : Lot C. Clark, 
Georg-e White, Alfred DeGroot, Sidney Y. Rawson, and John 
Croak, the present incumbent. 

Of the sheriffs of the county, the following came from North- 
field, viz. : Thomas Stilhvell, twice ; John Depue, twice ; Christian 
Corsen, John Hillyer, three times ; another of the same name, 
once ; Lewis Ryers, Benjamin Parker, Jacob Crocheron, three 
times ; Jacob Hillyer, Lawrence Hillyer, Andrew B. Decker and 
Jacob Simonson. 

During the last century, this locality has been known by a va- 
riety of names. One hundred years ago, Rivington's Roj/al 
Gazette, published in Nev>r York, announced the fact that a ferry 
had been established between Staten Island and Bergen Point, 
but does not inform us who was the proprietor ; probably it was 
Gozen Ryers, who, several years before the close of the last 
century, was the proprietor of a ferry not only to Bergen Point, 
but to New York. The boats used on the latter were the old- 
fashioned pirogues, or periauguas, which had certain hours for 
starting, but very imcertain hours for arriving, which might be 
the same day or the next, as winds, tides, or other circumstances 
permitted. The locality was then known as Ryers' ferry. These 
boats started from the old wharf at the foot of the Church road. 
There was an opposition ferry in those days, too, which was 
started by John Hilleker, from a wharf just east of Jewett's lead 
works, the remains of which may still be seen. Early in the 
present century, the late David Mersereau, Esq., became the 
owner of botb these ferries, and the village received the name of 
Mersereau's ferry, which it retained for many years. As it grew 
in proportions, and the business, and, we may add, the self-esteem 
of the inhabitants increased, efforts were made to bestow upon it 
a more eui^honious apj^eUation ; meetings were held, and several 
names were proposed, among which were Ii-vington, New Bristol, 



16 

&c. ; but by some means the prepostei'ous name of City ville became 
attached to the place, and if memory serves, even the post-of!ice 
was called by that name. At length, the absurdity' of the name be- 
gan to be more and more apparent, and another meeting was held, 
the result of which was, that at the suggestion of the Eev. Dr. 
Brownlee, the present appropriate name of Port Richmond was 
adopted. As it is a part of tlie Rev. gentleman's professional 
duties to bestow names, it is not at all surprising that he should 
have become an adept, after more than forty years' practice. 

I have the authority of the late Rev, Dr. Van Pelt, for thirty- 
three 3'ears pastor of the Reformed Church in this Village, for as- 
serting that, in the old frame building which formerly stood on 
the site of the Greenwald stores, and universally known as " The 
Academy," the first Sunday School in the United States was organ- 
ized. It was intended especially for the instruction of larger 
children and adults, who had not had the advantages of an educa- 
tion in their earlier years, and, in addition to a fitting religious 
culture, they were instructed in the ordinary fixndamental branches 
of a common school education ; and there are, no doubt, some 
still living, who are approximating, if they have not already 
reached their three-score and ten years, who were pupils in that 
school. 

It is a matter worthy of remark, that in two of the churches of 
this Town, the pastorates have been of extraordinary length. In 
St. Andrew's Church the pastorate of the Rt. Rev. Richard Chan- 
ning Moore commenced in October, 1788, and terminated in 1808, 
a period of twenty years ; he was immediately succeeded by his 
son, the late Rev. Dr. David Moore, whose pastorate terminated 
with his life in 1856, a period of forty-eight years, making a total 
of sixty-eight years in the two succeeding pastorates of that 
church. 

But the Reformed Church in this Village presents a more re- 
markable record. In 1802 the Rev. Dr. P. I. Van Pelt was in- 
stalled as pastor, and continued in that office until #1835, a period 
of thirty-three years ; in the latter year the present pastor, the 
Rev. Dr. Brownlee, was installed ; his pastorate, next month, will 
reach its forty-first year ; thus, the two pastorates of this church 
will embrace three-fourths of a century, within one year. 

On the 24th of November, 18G6, the Village of Port Richmond 



17 

was incorporated ; the division of the village into wards was not 
adopted, avoiding thereby the sectional jealousies and bickerings 
which so often distui'b the harmony, and retard the prosperity of 
small communities. For several consecutive years the same trus- 
tees were reelected, and the present presiding officer of the Village 
is the first and only one it ever had. 

On the 24tli of July, 1835, the " Staten Island Banking Associa- 
tion " commenced business. The bank was located in this Village, 
in the west end of the double bviilding at the corner of Broadway 
and the Shore road, now occupied as a shoe store. Its first Board 
of Du-ectors were Richard D. Littell, John H. Smith, William A. 
Swain, Franklin S. Kinney, "William Woram, William Colgate, 
Eder V. Haughwout, Jacob Bodine, John Totten, Sen., Joseph 
Seguine, John T. Harrison, and Samuel Sherwood. Richard D. 
LitteU was President, and John W^est Cashier. After a brief ex- 
istence of a few years, its doors were closed, and remain so to 
this day. 

On the 14th day of September, 1836, in the northeast room of 
the second story of the Port Richmond (now Continental) Hotel, 
died Aaron Burr, the talented, ambitious, and unscrupulous 
statesman. 

In a house still standing, a few rods from this spot, but some 
years since remodeled and modernized, on the 27th day of May, 
1794, (eighty-two years ago,) was born a man, still hving, and 
known all the world over for his sagacity, his indomitable energy, 
his probity, and the wonderful success of every enterprise under- 
taken by him. A man who has converted into gold whatever liis 
magic hand has touched, until he counts his wealth by many mil- 
lions, but who was never so devoted to Mammon as to forget that 
he was a son, a father, and a man ; Avhose benefactions have been 
many, but entirely unostentatious, and were made by the thou- 
sands, the hundred thousand, and the million. This man, a son 
of Northfield, now lies upon his sick bed, and his hold on life 
gradually weakening, until, in all human judgment, no long time 
will elapse ere the ponderous doors of the costly granite mauso. 
leum in the Cemetery of the Moravians wiU forever close upon the 
venerable form of Cornelius Vanderbilt. 

The " Star-Spangled Banner " was then sung. 



18 



The Oration. 
By Hon. George Wm. Curtis. 
In introducing Mr. Curtis, Mr. Rawson said : 
We have of late (referring to the political conventions for the 
nomination of President) heard and read a great deal about 
" favorite sons." The suns of many of them have happily set, but 
there are those who are always " favorite sons," and I feel hon- 
ored in now having the privilege of introducing Staten Island's 
favorite son, the Honorable George William Curtis. 

]VIr. Curtis was received with great applause, and said : 
Mr. President, fellow citizens, neighbors and friends : 

On the 19th of April, 1775, when Samuel Adams, well called 
the father of the Revolution, heard the first shots of the British 
upon Lexington Green, he knew that war had at last begun, and 
full of enthusiasm, of hope, of trust in America, he exclaimed 
wdth rapture, " Oh ! what a glorious morning." And there is no 
feUow citizen of ours, wherever he may be to-day — whether sail- 
ing the remotest seas or wandering among the highest Alps, how- 
ever far removed, however long separated from his home, who, as 
his eyes open upon this gloi'ious morning, does not repeat with 
the same fervor the words of Samuel Adams, and thank God with 
all his heart, that he too is an American. In imagination he 
sees infinitely multiplied the very scene that we behold. From 
every roof and gable, fi*om every door and window of all the 
myriads of hapi^y American homes from the seaboard to the 
mountains, and from the mountains still onward to the sea, the 
splendor of this summer heaven is reflected in the starry beauty 
of the Ameiican flag. From every steeple and tower in crowded 
cities and towns, from the village belfry, and the school-house 
and meeting-house on sohtary country roads, ring out tlie joyous 
peals. From countless thousands of reverend hps ascends the 
voice of prayer. Everywhere the inspiring Avords of the great 
Declaration that we have heard, the charter of our Independence, 
the scripture of our Hbei-ty, is read aloud in eager, in grateful 
ears. And above all, and under all, pulsing through all the praise 
and prayer, from the frozen sea to the tropic gulf, from the At- 
lantic to the Pacific, the gi-eat heart of a great people beats in 



19 

fullness of joy, beats with pious exultation, that here at last, upon 
our soil — here, by the -wisdom of ovu.' fathers and the bravery of 
our brothers, is founded a Republic, vast, fraternal, peaceful, upon 
the divine corner-stone of liberty, justice and equal rights. 

There have indeed been other republics, but they were founded 
upon other principles. There are republics in Switzerland to-day 
a thousand years old. But Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden are 
pure democracies not larger than the county in which we live, 
and wholly unlike our vast, national and representative repubHc. 
Athens was a repubhc, but Marathon and Salamis, battles whose 
names are melodious in the history of liberty, were won by slaves. 
Rome was a rejjublic, but slavery degraded it to an empire. 
Venice, Genoa, Florence, were rej^ublican cities, but they were 
tyrants over subject neighbors, and slaves of aristocrats at home. 
There were repubhcs in Holland, honorable forever, because 
from them we received oiu* common schools, the bulwark of 
American liberty, but they too were repviblics of classes, not of the 
people. It was reserved for our fathers to build a republic upon 
a declaration of the equal rights of men ; to make the Govern- 
ment as broad as humanity ; to found political institutions upon 
faith in human nature. " The sacred rights of mankind," fer- 
vently exclaimed Alexander Hamilton, " are not to be rummaged 
for among old parchments or musty records ; they are written as 
with a sunbeam in the whole volume of human nature, by the 
hand of Divinity itself." That was the sublime faith in which 
this century began. The world stared and sneered — the difficul- 
ties and dangers were colossal. For more than eighty years that 
Declaration remained only a Declaration of faith. But, fellow 
citizens, fortunate beyond all men, our eyes behold its increasing- 
fulfilment. The sublime faith of the fathers is more and more the 
familiar fact of the children. And the proud flag which floats 
over America to-day, as it is the bond of indissoluble union, so it is 
the seal of ever enlarging equality, and ever surer justice. Could 
the men of that earlier day, could Samuel Adams and all his asso- 
ciates have lived through this amazing century to see this glorious 
morning, as they counted these teeming and expanding States, 
as they watched the advance of republican empire from the 
AUeghanies tlu'ough a country of golden plenty, passing the snowy 



20 

SieiTas and descending- to the western sea of peace, as they saw 
the little sj^ark of political liberty which they painfully struck, 
blown by the eager breath of a century into a flame which as- 
pii'es to heaven and illummates the eartli, they would bow theii' 
reverend heads at this moment, as Adams and Jefferson bowed 
theu's fifty years ago to-day ; and the happy burden of their 
hearts would tremble fi-om their expmng- lips, " Now, oh Lord, let 
thy servants depart in peace, for their eyes have seen thy sal- 
vation." 

But we have learned, by sharp experience, that prosperity is 
girt with peril. In this hour of exultation we will not scorn the 
■v\T.se voices of warning and censure, the friendly and patriotic 
voices of the time. We will not forget that the vital condition of 
national greatness and prosperity is the moral character of the 
people. It is not vast territory, a temperate chmate, exhaustless 
mines, enormous wealth, amazing inventions, imperial enter- 
prises, magnificent public works, a population miraculously 
multii^lied : it is not busy shops and humming mills, and flaming- 
forges, and commerce that girdles the globe with the glory of a 
flag, that makes a nation truly great. These are but opportumties. 
They are like the health and strength and talents of a man, which 
are not his character and manhood, but only the means of their 
development. Tlie test of our national greatness is the use we 
make of our opportunities. If they breed extravagance, wild riot 
and Ucense — if they make fraud plausible and corruption easy — if 
they confuse private morality, and debauch the public conscience, 
beware, beware ! for all our prosperity is then but a Belshazzar's 
feast of splendor, and while we sit dninken with wine and 
crowned with flowers, the walls of our statety palace are flaming 
and cracking with the terrible Avords of our doom. 

But with aU faults confesssed, and concessions made, with all 
dangers acknowledged and difficulties measured, I tliink we may 
truly say that, upon the whole, we have used our oi)portunities 
well. The commanding political fact of the century that ends to- 
day, is the transcendent force and the recuperative power of re- 
pubHcan institutions. Neither the siren of prosperity, nor the 
red fury of civil war, has been able to destroy our Government 
or to weaken our faith in the principles upon which it is founded. 
We have been proud, and reckless, and defiant ; we have sinned, 



21 

and have justly suffered, but I say, iu yom- lieai-ing, as, had I the 
voice, I would say in the hearing of the world to-day, that out of 
the fiery fvirnace of our atiiictions, America emerges at this 
moment greater, better, truer, nobler, than ever in its history 
before. 

I do not forget how much is due to the political genius of the 
race from which we are so largely sprimg. Nine-tenths of the 
revolutionary population of the country was of English stock. 
The Declaration of Independence was a fruit of Magna Charta, 
and Magna Charta grew from seed planted before history in the 
German forest. Om- friend, the historian of the island, in the in- 
teresting sketch of this town that he read us, tells us that 
Northfield was the most patriotic town in the county dm-ing the 
revolution, and that the original settlers were, in great part, of 
German stock. The two facts naturally go together. The in- 
stinct of individual liberty and independence is the germ of the 
pohtical developement of that race from which also our fathers 
sprang. They came from England to plant, as they believed, a 
purer England. Their new England was to be a true England, 
At last they took up arms reluctantly to defend England against 
herself, to maintain the principles and traditions of English lib- 
erty. The farmers of Bunker Hill were the Barons of Runny- 
niede in a later day, and the victory at Yorktown was not the 
seal of a revolution so much as the pledge of continuing Erglisli 
progress. This day dawns upon a common perception of that 
truth on both sides of the ocean. In no generous heart on either 
shore hngers any trace of jealousy or hostility. It is a day of 
peace, of joy, of friendship. Here above my head, and in yom* 
presence, side by side with our own flag, hangs the tri-color of 
France, oui- earhest friend, and the famous cross of England, oiu' 
aUy in civilization. May our rivah-y in all true progress be as in- 
spiring as our kinshi]) is close ! In the histoiy of the century, I 
claim that we have done our share. In real service to humanity, 
in the diffusion of intelligence, and the hghtening of the burden 
of labor, in beneficient inventions, — yes, in the education of 
the public conscience, and the growth of political morality, of 
which this very day sees the happy signs, I claim that the act of 
this day a hundred years ago is justified, and that we have done 
not less, as an Independent State, than om- venerable mother 
England, 



22 

Think what the country was that hundred years a^o. To-day 
the State of which we are citizens contains a larger population 
than that of all the States of the Union when Washington was 
President. Yet, New York is now but one of thu-ty-eight States, 
for to-day our youngest sister, Colorado, steps into the national 
family of the Union. The country of a century ago was our fa- 
ther's small estate. That of to-day is our noble heritage. Fidehty 
to the spirit and principles of our fathers will enable us to deliver 
it enlarged, beautified, ennobled, to our children of the new cen- 
tva'v. Unwavering faith in the absolute supremacy of the moral 
law ; the clear perception that well-considered, thoroughly- 
proved, and jealously-guarded institutions, are the chief security 
of liberty ; and an unswerving loyalty to ideas, made the men of 
the Revolution, and secured American independence. The same 
faith and the same loyalty will presei've that independence, and 
secure progressive liberty forever. And here and now, upon this 
sacred centennial altar, let us, at least, swear that we will try pub- 
lic and private men by precisely the same moral standard, and 
that no man who directly or indirectly comiives at corruption or 
coercion to acquii'e office or to retain it, or who prostitutes any 
opportunity or position of public service to his own or another's 
advantage, shall have our countenance or our vote. The one thing 
that no man in this country is so poor that he cannot own is his 
vote ; and not only is he bound to use it honestly, but intelligent- 
ly. Good government does not come of itself ; it is the result of 
the skilful co-operation of good and shrewd men. If they will 
not combine, bad men will ; and if they sleep, the de^^ wiU sow 
tares. And as we pledge ourselves to ovir fathers' fidelity, we 
may well believe that in this hushed hour of noon, their gracious 
spirits bend over us in benediction. In this sweet summer air, in 
the strong breath of the ocean that beats upon our southern 
shore ; in the cool winds that blow over the Island fi-om the north- 
ern hiUs ; in these young faces and the songs of liberty that mm*- 
mur from their lips ; in the electric sympathy that binds aU our 
hearts with each other, and with those of our brothers and sisters 
throughout the land, hfting our beloved country as a sacrifice to 
God, I see, I feel, the presence of our fathers : the blithe heroism 
of Warren, and the unsullied youth of Quincy : the fiery impulse 
of Otis and Patrick Henry- : the serene wisdom of John Jay and 



23 

the comprehensive grasp of Hamilton : the sturdy and invigorat- 
ing force of John and of Samuel Adams ; — and at last, embracing 
them all, as our eyes at this moment behold cloud and hill, and 
roof and tree, and field and river, blent in one perfect picture, so 
combining and subordinating all the great powers of his great 
associates, I feel the gloiT of the presence, I bend my head to 
the blessing of the ever-living, the immortal Washington. 

" My Country, 'tis of Thee," was then sung, followed by the 
Doxology, " Praise God," &c. 

The Rev. S. G. Smith then dismissed the audience with the fol- 
lowing benediction : 

May the blessing of our father's God now rest upon us. As in 
time past, so in time to come, may He guard and defend our land. 
May He crown the coming years with peace and prosperity. May 
He ever clothe our rulers with righteousness, and give us a future 
characterized by piu-ity of hfe and integi'ity of pvu-pose. May He 
everywhere shed forth the benign influence of His spirit, and to 
the present and coming generations vouchsafe the inspiring hopes 
of His gospel, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 



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